When the weather permits, wearing top to bottom linen is a never fail outfit formula for me. It had been cardigan weather for the past few weeks, but today warmed up to 75 and I felt fine going out with short sleeves. I don’t take it for granted anymore. In NYC I’d still be miserably wearing my puffy coat right now!
This weekend, I gave up on my mint plant. As you might recall, it was plagued by white spots, which I learned was a mite problem. The solution was to spray them with diluted soapy water, which I did, but maybe I over-did it because two days later the entire plant wilted and died. I’m not going to repurchase mint, and haven’t decided what I want to use the empty planter for.
I also gave up on the idea of having more plants at home after I discovered an infestation of fungus gnats all over my pearl ivy plant. It was so gross. I relocated the plant outdoors on the balcony to get rid of most of the gnats. But we still have a bunch of gnats flying around indoors. I’m trying to get rid of the remainder of the gnats with a DIY apple cider gnat trap, but little luck so far. I also ordered some clear sticky fly traps to place on the windows.
The only plant that is left indoors is my rubber plant. So far, it’s looking good. At risk of a sterile looking interior, I think one indoor plant is all that I can handle right now. This whole trying to be a plant person thing was more hassle and cost than it was worth I think. All the plant guides I read only ever talked about requirements for light and watering. I was not prepared for mites and gnats too! I don’t want to even think about pesticides.
In other news, I started reading the book You Are What You Wear by Dr. Baumgartner. It’s a pop-psychology book about what your clothes reveal about you. I remember being interested in this topic early on. I recall a conversation I had with a friend in the 9th grade about how revealing shoes were about a person’s personal taste. In high school, it was easy to know right away what type of music, for example, someone listened to based on their shoes. Doc Marten’s? Industrial rock. Airwalks? Skate Punk. Beyond high school and college though, things become less clear, as our professional identities take over and we become more or less concerned about expressing certain aspects of ourselves. Anyway, I’m enjoying the book so far. The first chapter is about over shopping, and has already prevented me from making an impulse online order this week.
Before I let you go, I haven’t forgotten about the rest of the apartment tour. I had to take a break because we were actually rearranging things in the second bedroom, which we use as a den/office space. We’re trying to create a custom wood keyboard stand for the BF’s korg piano. It may take a week or two before that’s all done. Stay tuned!
Dr. it girl 
My monstera was infested with fungus gnats a few months ago from overwatering – I cut down on my watering by half (probably to once every 2 weeks) and every time I watered I used a dilute solution of hydrogren peroxide in water (1:4) and it worked after 3-4 times! The hydrogen peroxide I believe kills off the larvae and eggs, not the adult gnats, so you need to do it for a few life cycles, and it didn’t harm my plant.
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hmm interesting.. they never returned after that?
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Oooooo! I am definitely going to check out that book!
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Very interested in that book, too!
Also: Birks and Chucks in high school. Grateful Dead and DMB and Tori Amos all day long.
Can I confess something?
I have a windowfull of real plants and one big umbrella plant that comes inside for cold months and lives outside for warm ones. Otherwise? I have a handful of fake plants. They are better than they used to be and survive in places where I want green leaves but don’t have enough light. And they forgive my failure to feed/repot/water consistently (if at all). I have a “fakus” (ficus), a faux fern, a synthetic Staghorn, and a handful of pseudo succulents. Love them.
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lol, you are very right on the birk/chucks interpretation. I am considering a fake plant for the bathroom.. I think its becoming more acceptable these days
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I gave up on some plants after fungus gnats too. I tried the hydrogren peroxide, but I guess I wasn’t patient enough do several applications. The indoor plants I’ve had the most luck with are snake plants and secondly: dracaena.
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I read about the peroxide thing too.. and was just too burnt out to give it a try. Snake plants are supposed to be indestructable I hear, but I have a weird thing against sharp plants indoors.
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Your monochrome-ish neutral outfits have been inspiring me. I really like the look a lot.
I’ve had a few issues with gnats, but like Jane said, reducing the watering seems to help. Let the plants dry out a bit before the next watering. I mostly have issues with spider mites due to the dry weather in the winter. Whenever I start to see them I take the plants outside and spray them down with Neem oil. I then do weekly treatments until I see they are gone. I also try to wipe the leaves down whenever I can or I’ll shower water the plants in the tub since spider mites don’t like that and it usually keeps them away.
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Thanks! Your plants inspired me but I can’t seem to keep up w/ their needs. I have to ease into it maybe. Just focusing on one plant for now.
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It really is difficult to take care of plants when you don’t have the time or motivation to pay attention to their needs. I think that’s why so many plants I had before died. I think since I’ve taken my focus away from clothes I’ve shifted it now to plants, so I’m noticing now what plants need more water or less or light, etc…
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